A new program by the Nashville Sexual Assault Center aims to enlist local bars and bartenders in the effort to prevent sexual assaults.

The Safe Bar project trains staff at venues where alcohol is served on how to safely intervene if someone is suspected to be at risk for sexual assault.

The program also distributes coasters embedded with drug strips capable of testing for popular date rape drugs. A drop of alcohol dropped on the coaster turns a strip blue when a date rape drug is detected, signaling to bartenders and wait staff a person may be in danger.

"What we want to do is help people intervene in safe ways," said Sharon Travis, an outreach and advocacy specialist. "We don't want them to intervening and escalating a situation and making it worse. It's more about saying, 'hey are you ok?'"

Among the services provided by the Sexual Assault Center are advocates who join victims at hospitals to get rape kit tests.

It was those advocates who noticed an increase in victims who were drugged at a bar, Travis said.

That trend prompted the center to use a portion of an $18,000 grant from the state Department of Health to buy coasters to distribute at local bars and to offer training to their staff.

Bar and restaurant staff can take an online training on how to spot and intervene in potentially risky situations. Staff at the Sexual Assault Center also provide advice and support to those venues.

So far, the center has trained staff at three Nashville bars and has plans to launch the program in Murfeesboro with the help of student advocates at Middle Tennessee State University.

Reach Anita Wadhwani at awadhwani@tennessean.com; 615-259-8092 or on Twitter @AnitaWadhwani.